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www.golfmag.com.au
MAGAZINE
PLUS+
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With a few like-minded mates, and
Riverside Golf Course conveniently located
across the road from his high school in
Launceston, Richardson had found his
niche. “I got to about 15 or 16 and I really
wanted to make golf my job. I was watching
Tiger Woods on telly, and guys like Adam
Scott, and I thought ‘that’d be awesome’,”
says Richardson.
After finishing school and at his
parent’s request, Richardson completed
an apprenticeship as a greenskeeper at
Riverside. Richardson was desperate to
begin chasing his dreams while still a
teenager, but his parents knew a career
as a professional golfer came with no
guarantees. After “getting something
behind him first”, Richardson moved north
to Melbourne to play pennant at Victoria
Golf Club and work on his skills full time. “It
was a pretty slow start I guess. I decided to
play some Pro-Ams and events in Australia
and on the OneAsia Tour in my first couple
of years, then I decided to go to the Asian
Tour School and I got my card there,” says
Richardson.
It’s clear that Richardson understands how
tough his chosen career path is. “Getting
a tour card somewhere and playing well
enough to keep it is a tough chore,” he says.
“I’m pretty happy just sticking it out there
for a couple of years, because there’s good
pathways to Europe and America.” For
golfers with aspirations to earn more money,
play in bigger tournaments and tour with the
world’s best, it is harder to trend upwards
than drop back down the pecking order. “It is
nerve-wracking when you start thinking ‘I’ve
got to make the cut this week to get a good
re-rank’, or ‘I need to finish top five this week
to secure my card so the pressure is off me
for the last few weeks of the year.’ It’s tough.
“No wonder golfers lose their hair,” he says
with a grin. Is the ability to play with the
pressure of your entire livelihood something
you learn to tame? “I reckon so,” says
Richardson confidently. “It just all comes
down to sports psychology really. I’ve gotten
some good advice over the last couple of
years, from my coach Nick White, down in
Tassie. “You just need to not worry about it
and take it one shot at a time,” Richardson
says. As the best players do, Richardson
strikes you as a competitor who relishes the
biggest challenges. After all, that is what
drew him to golf as a boy. The Tasmanian
already has performances on tour to back
these claims up.
Before last Christmas, Richardson hit the
Indonesia Open with two top five finishes
in three events to secure his full Asian Tour
card for the year ahead. He then fired a first
round 63 for the overnight lead. In April this
year, at the Asian Tour’s Indonesian Masters,
Richardson finished third with a final round
“That’s when I got the
bug. You just have that
thrill of when you break
your handicap for the
first time and I found
it a good challenge.”